Originally Posted by
Dheorl
Whenever I've travelled with stuff on an airline that I'm likely to get charged for, I go in preared for the worst and come out smiling if I get away with it.
Exactly!
And in this case ...
-- Read and reread the bicycle baggage information online so you have some idea what to expect (
it changes frequently) ...
-- Go into it as prepared as possible
(with full-sized bicycle, we are going to be oversized ... can't get around that ... and chances are we're going to be pretty close to overweight too, but weighing the bicycle box and other luggage ahead of time might help avoid surprises) ...
-- Arrive early
(because that improves the chances of having a happy encounter with the check-in people, and gives us a chance to fix any difficulties that might come up) ...
-- And be as nice as possible
(because people generally react better to nice people).
You might still have to pay the charge for bicycles, but you expected that ... and if it happens that you are charged less and/or have a happy check-in process, all the better!